Legal

Privacy Policy

TheFirstWord  ·  Last updated: June 2025  ·  Lire en français →

Your privacy matters to us. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have under Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (Law 25 / Loi 25).

1. Who We Are

TheFirstWord is operated by Sami Soussa, an individual located in Quebec, Canada. We offer an AI-powered tool to help families communicate with loved ones dealing with addiction.

Contact: thefirstword.ca@gmail.com
Website: thefirstword.ca

2. What Information We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to provide you with a personalized intervention kit.

InformationWhy We Collect It
Your first nameTo personalize your kit and email
Your loved one's first nameTo personalize your letter, guide, SMS and script
Your email addressTo deliver your kit and send optional weekly check-in emails
Questionnaire answers (relationship, substance, duration, attitude, tone, situation description)To generate a personalized, context-specific intervention kit via AI
Payment informationProcessed securely by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.

We do not collect your full name, address, phone number, date of birth, or any government-issued identification.

3. How We Use Your Information

  • To generate your personalized intervention kit using AI (Anthropic API)
  • To deliver your kit by email (Resend)
  • To send weekly check-in emails if you are on the Premium plan (you can unsubscribe at any time)
  • To allow you to return to your kit using your email address
  • To process your payment securely (Stripe)
  • To improve our service through anonymized usage analytics (Posthog)

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use it for advertising. We do not share it with any party except those listed in Section 4.

4. Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following trusted service providers. Each processes your data solely to provide their specific service to us:

ProviderPurposeLocation
AnthropicAI generation of your kit contentUnited States
SupabaseSecure database storage of your account dataCanada (Central)
ResendTransactional email deliveryUnited States
StripePayment processingUnited States
PosthogAnonymized usage analyticsUnited States
NamecheapDomain name registrationUnited States
RenderApplication hostingUnited States

Some of these providers are located outside of Quebec and Canada. By using TheFirstWord, you acknowledge that your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, in accordance with applicable law.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services. Specifically:

  • Your name, email, and kit outputs are stored in our database indefinitely to allow you to return to your kit
  • If you unsubscribe from all emails, your data remains stored but you will no longer receive communications
  • You may request deletion of your data at any time — see Section 7

6. Cookies and Analytics

We use Posthog for basic anonymized analytics (page views, feature usage). This helps us understand how people use TheFirstWord so we can improve it.

We do not use advertising cookies. We do not build marketing profiles. We do not share analytics data with third parties.

7. Your Rights Under Quebec Law 25

As a resident of Quebec (or anywhere in Canada), you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right to access — You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
  • Right to correction — You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Right to deletion — You can request that we delete your personal information from our systems
  • Right to withdraw consent — You can unsubscribe from all emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email we send you
  • Right to portability — You can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at thefirstword.ca@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information, including:

  • HTTPS encryption on all data in transit
  • Secure database storage (Supabase, Canada Central)
  • Payment data handled exclusively by Stripe — we never store card details
  • Access to our database and administrative systems is restricted to authorized personnel only

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Sensitive Information

The nature of our service means that some information you provide — such as a loved one's substance use, your relationship, and your personal situation — is sensitive in nature.

We treat this information with the utmost care. It is used only to generate your personalized kit via AI. It is not shared, sold, or used for any other purpose.

We strongly encourage you to use only first names when completing the questionnaire and to avoid including identifying information (such as full names, addresses, or health card numbers) in your free-text responses.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of TheFirstWord after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

For material changes, we will notify active users by email.

11. Contact & Privacy Complaints

If you have a question, concern, or complaint about how your personal information is handled, please contact us:

Email: thefirstword.ca@gmail.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to file a complaint with the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (CAI) at cai.gouv.qc.ca.

Questions about your privacy?

We're a small team and we take your privacy seriously. Reach out anytime.

Contact Us →